A Refreshing Reminder of Capitalism

Over the weekend, the world was smacked with the horrific news that Hamas jihadists had viciously attacked Israel. The reports quickly turned into an orgy of ghastly murder, rape, mayhem, decapitations and the kidnapping of hundreds of Israelis. Then, there was the retaliation by the Israeli Defense Force, a retaliation that showed the technological prowess possessed by the nation and the willingness to destroy the enemies of civilization.

The details of this conflict, along with its historical context, can be found in numerous sources, so there is no need for me to delve into the details here. Moreover, this is The Deep Woods, which means we look at things beyond just historical events and dig much deeper to unveil their philosophic core.

In doing so, we discover that the conflict between the Arab world and Israel is really just a conflict between the forces of mysticism, medieval tribalism, dictatorship and terror (the Arab world) and the forces of reason, individualism, capitalism and civilization (Israel and the Western world). And with those diametrically opposed views in place, can there ever be “peace”?

The answer is, sadly, no.

Speaking of capitalism and civilization; it is in times of global tumult and ugly headlines that we all can use a reminder of the true nature of good, and the true nature and kindness of capitalism and its role in creating a flourishing and rational civilization.

A few years ago, I wrote about this in my article “Try to Be More Kind.”

Today, as an antidote to the chaos of global events, I present this article to you in the spirit of reason, reality and optimism. Because amidst the irrationality of religious violence, there also exists the beauty and kindness of rational actors being good.

Try to Be More Kind

We live, then we die.

That’s a reality we all must grapple with each minute. And the fact that life is finite has implications for everything we do. And no matter what your beliefs are about the existence of an afterlife, there is no doubt that life on earth as we experience it is going to come to an end for us all.

This admittedly morbid, yet eminently liberating, realization is at the spine of nearly all of our decisions, even though many times we fail to realize it. Think about the actions you take each day.

You wake after a night of sleep because your body requires sleep. You consume food because your body requires energy. Then, for most of us, we engage in some form of productive activity that nets us financial compensation so that we can attain the capital required to fund our existence.

If we’re lucky, we have family and friends who we love that we can share our lives with, and that allows us both to provide and to receive mutual support.

The requirements of a finite life also have a profound effect on your decisions about what to do with your money, how to spend that money, how to invest it and how to plan for a time when you may not be able to, or may no longer want to, work. Then there’s your family, and the work involved in making the right decisions to provide for them when you’re no longer here to do so.

Now, much of my newsletter advisory services are aimed at the nuts and bolts of how to put your money to work in the financial markets so that you can maximize this critical aspect of your life. Yet as you likely know, in The Deep Woods I like to peel back the layers of the onion skin so that we can access the principles at the root of the issue.

And when you think about it, what is at the essence of our quest to make sure we are financially secure enough to take care of ourselves and the ones we love?

To me, the answer is simple: It’s a desire to be kind.

Indeed, the desire to be kind, i.e., the quality of being caring, attentive, considerate and otherwise thoughtful of others, is something that we all should strive to be motivated by. I know for me, the action I take out of kindness not only feels good, but it’s always in my rational self-interest to do so.

Acting kind doesn’t mean self-sacrifice. Rather, it means acting and interacting with others so that both parties receive maximum benefit from the interaction.

Extended out to the political realm, the desire for kindness is why I am a passionate advocate for laissez-faire capitalism. You see, capitalism is the only social system where men are free to interact with each other based on the principle of exchanged values.

For example, this morning, I went to my local Starbucks and paid $4.95 for a latte. I wanted the latte more than I wanted the $4.95, and Starbucks wanted the $4.95 more than they wanted the latte. I didn’t exercise physical force to extort the latte from my barista, and she didn’t wrestle me into the store from the street to confiscate my money.

Instead, we engaged in a mutually kind exchange of values that also was mutually beneficial. This kindness is the essence of capitalism, and it’s the opposite of the Marxist idea that capitalism exploits the proletariat.

In my view, a prescription for increasing societal happiness is to increase kindness. Not only in terms of our daily human interactions, but also in the wider sense of people interacting with each other via the kindest of all principles: free exchange.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a powerful quote from philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris regarding kindness. As Sam writes: “Consider it: every person you have ever met, every person will suffer the loss of his friends and family. All are going to lose everything they love in this world. Why would one want to be anything but kind to them in the meantime?”

If you want to make yourself and the world a better place, try to be more kind.

For a special audio essay of this article, I invite you to listen here.

********************************************

On Bad Ideas

“Nothing dies harder than a bad idea.”

–Julia Cameron

Bad ideas seem to be everywhere and at all times. Today, we are seeing the fruit of bad ideas turn into mayhem in the actions in the Middle East. Perhaps one day we can shed the vestiges of our lowly tribal origins and ascend to a world where ancient mystical thought doesn’t manifest into violence. But until that day, the rational and reasonable need to keep advocating for a better world — and so I will continue to do just that.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.

In the name of the best within us,

Jim Woods